Call for New Research Collaborations

Cadets, would you like to work on a research project with an ECBU faculty member? You are welcome to email any of our ECBU faculty members to see if they might be available for a research project now or in the future. Projects can be organized as SURI projects, departmental honors projects, or Institute honors projects, provided the cadet meets academic qualifications. In addition, cadets can apply for paid research assistantship positions through the Roberts Research Assistant Grant Program. Calls for grant proposals are issued twice per year via email.

Cadet Achievements & Noteworthy Faculty-Cadet Collaborations

Every year, ECBU faculty and cadets partner to develop novel research projects. Some of these collaborations have been recognized as being among the best at the Institute; others have been recognized as outstanding contributions to undergraduate research in economics and business at the department level. Cadet researchers have also earned Institute and Department honors from these collaborations as well as garnered their first authorships in peer-reviewed publications, received their first grant awards, and gained valuable learning experiences through independent studies and service-based projects.

Institute Research Awards

Andrew Winder, Wilbur S. Hinman, Jr. ’26 Research Award – Information and Social Sciences, May 2022. (Faculty Advisor: COL Cobb)

Tristan Howard, Wilbur S. Hinman, Jr. ’26 Research Award – Information and Social Sciences, May 2020. (Faculty advisor: COL Cobb)

Stephen Eller, Wilbur S. Hinman, Jr. ’26 Research Award – Arts and Humanities, May 2017. (Faculty advisor: COL Smith)

Gianluca Mangiapane, Wilbur S. Hinman Jr.’26 Research Award – Social Science, May 2015. (Faculty advisor: COL Dimitrova-Grajzl)

Philpott Awards for most outstanding independent research paper

Luke Nicksic, May 2022 (Faculty Advisor: COL Smith)

Ching-wen Yang, May 2021. (Faculty advisor: Dr. Jiang)

Charlie Palandati, May 2020. (Faculty advisor: COL Basu)

Rives Worsham, May 2019. (Faculty advisors: COL Allen and COL Jeff Smith)

Avery Richardson, May 2018. (Faculty advisor: COL Dimitrova-Grajzl)

Isaac Lewis, May 2016. (Faculty advisor: COL Dimitrova-Grajzl)

Gianluca Mangiapane, May 2015. (Faculty advisor: COL Dimitrova-Grajzl)

Institute Honors Graduates

2023

Harris Burton, Jurisdiction and Crime in Indian Country. (Faculty Advisor: COL Dimitrova-Grajzl)

2022

Luke Nicksic, Performance of Market Cap Weighted and Equal Weight Index Mutual Funds. (Faculty Advisor: COL Smith)

2021

Jonah Eger, Determining the Policy Levers that Directly Impact Human Development (Faculty advisor: COL Basu)

2020

Tristan Howard, Forecasting Nursing Needs and Costs for Healthcare Facilities in the Tactical Time Frame. (Faculty Advisor: COL Cobb)

Charlie Palandati, Using machine learning to predict the US labor force participation rate. (Faculty advisor: COL Basu)

Ben Rising, The Effect of President Donald Trump’s Trade-Related Tweets on the US Equity Market. (Faculty advisor: COL Basu)

2019

John O’Donnell, Poverty, Federal Anti-Poverty Programs, and Local-Level Innovations in Fighting Poverty: The Case of the USA. (Faculty advisor: COL Dimitrova-Grajzl)

Rives Worsham, Finding an Appropriate Level of Public Funding for Private Sports Stadium. (Faculty advisors: COL Allen and COL Jeff Smith)

2018

Victor Kolle, Generation Differences in Risk Preferences. (Faculty advisors: COL Allen)

2017

Stephen Eller, Alternative Asset Allocation: How an Investor’s Portfolio Would Change with Bitcoin Included in the S&P GSCI. (Faculty advisor: COL Smith)

2015

Gianluca Mangiapane, The Socio-Economic Effects of American Indian Tribal Casinos: An Econometric Analysis. (Faculty advisor: COL Dimitrova-Grajzl)

Departmental Honors

Collin Ironside, December 2023, Politicians and Insider Trading. (Faculty Advisor: MAJ Tim Murray)

M. Andrew Winder, May 2022. High vs. Low Volatility Portfolios. (Faculty Advisor: COL Cobb)

Ching-wen Yang, May 2021. Donation Decision under Time Pressure. (Faculty advisor: Dr. Jiang)

David Zingaro, May 2020. An Experimental Study of Identity Theft in the Cyber World. (Faculty advisor: Dr. Jiang)

Jack Langkafa, May 2019. Corruption and Economic Growth: The Case of Thailand. (Faculty advisor: COL Dimitrova-Grajzl)

Avery Richardson, May 2018. Charitable Giving and Volunteering: Overview and Determinants (Faculty advisor: COL Dimitrova-Grajzl)

Will Hubbard, May 2017. An Ever-changing Commercial Real Estate Market: Significant factors that influence the Retail sector. (Faculty Advisor: COL Allen)

Isaac Lewis, May 2016. The Economics of Terrorism: An Empirical Study of the Determinants of Terrorism. (Faculty advisor: COL Dimitrova-Grajzl)

Renee Reives. May (2015. Do We Have Ghosts? A Joint Effort to Achieve Efficiency (Faculty Advisor COL Allen)

Summer Institute Research Institute (SURI) Grants

2023

Collin Ironside, Politicians and Insider Trading. (Faculty Advisor: MAJ Tim Murray)

2020

Spencer Dahm, Toward a Predictive Model of Fraud: A Case Study of MiMedx. (Faculty advisor: MAJ Simms)

Jonah Eger, Institutional predictors of HDI. (Faculty advisor: COL Basu)

Thomas Muldowney, Attitudes Towards Migrants and Their Integration into Society: A Study of the European Union. (Faculty advisor: COL Dimitrova-Grajzl)

Chancellor Newman, Economic Impact of Professional Sports on a Local Economy. (Faculty Advisor: MAJ Murray)

Ching-wen Yang, Donation Decision under Time Pressure. (Faculty advisor: Dr. Jiang)

2019

Tristan Howard, Forecasting Nursing Needs and Costs for Healthcare Facilities in the Tactical Time Frame. (Faculty Advisor, COL Cobb)

Christopher Lloyd, Does market structure predict income inequality? Testing Dani Rodrik. (Faculty advisor: COL Basu)

Charlie Palandati, Do minimum wage laws deter labor force participation? (Faculty advisor: COL Basu)

2017

Jonathan R. Beck, “Trump’s Twitter Account and its Impact on the Stock Market. (Faculty advisor: COL Basu)

Peer-reviewed publications with cadets as co-authors or as research assistants

Alerding, A.B., DeHart, J.E., Kniffin, D.K., Srikongyos, N., DeBlasio, M.J., Kelliher, J.M., Marsh, J.A., Magill, H.L., Newhouse, C.D., Allen, S.K. & Ackerman, P.J. (2019). An interdisciplinary living laboratory approach to investigate college food waste co-composting with additional on-site organic waste feedstocks. International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 24(1), 61-80.

Dahm, S. C. & Simms, K. C. An introduction to Benford’s Law: the Case of MiMedx. Journal of Business Cases and Applications, forthcoming. 

Schubel, L. & Allen, S. (2017). Going Pro in Something Other Than Sports. Virginia Economic Journal, 21(1), 39-50.

Simms, K. C., Clines, J. M.  & Schmank, J. M. Toward a Public Whistleblower Report? An Examination of the Markopolos Report on General Electric. Journal of Forensic and Investigative Accounting, forthcoming.

Simms, K., Donahue, J. Maxwell, P., & Allen, S. (2019). Does Serious Gaming Improve Classroom Engagement and Learning Outcomes? The Case of Tax Bingo. Accounting Instructor’s Report: A Journal for Accounting Educators, Fall 2019.

Zippel, J. S., Siemers, TJ, & Smith, JS.  (2019). Crop Circles or Actionable Information – Geometric Patterns in Commodity Price Data? IFTA Journal, 54–65

Roberts research assistant grant winners

Harris Burton, Spring 2022. The Economist and Indigenous Economics: Challenging Realities? (faculty advisor: COL Dimitrova-Grajzl)

Anderson Huger, Spring 2022. The Economist and Indigenous Economics: Challenging Realities? (faculty advisor: COL Dimitrova-Grajzl)

Willson Tuck, Summer 2021. The Economist and Indigenous Economics: Challenging Realities? (faculty advisor: COL Dimitrova-Grajzl)

Luke Nicksic, Spring 2021. Performance of Market Cap Weighted and Equal Weight (faculty advisor: COL Cobb)

Manrid Andrew Winder, Spring 2021. Stock Analysis Using Python Programming (faculty advisor: COL Cobb)

Bryce Mann, Fall 2019. The Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI): An Evaluation of its Correlates with Learning Outcomes. (Faculty Advisor: Maj. Simms; other faculty researchers COL West and COL Allen.)

David Zingaro, Tara James and Vincent Parker, Spring 2019. Emotions, Games, and Charitable Giving. (Faculty advisor: Dr. Jiang)

Jung Soo Lee, Spring 2018. Institution and Prosocial Preference. (Faculty advisor: Dr. Jiang)

Jung Soo Lee, Fall 2017. Research project Time Preferences in Charitable Giving. (Faculty advisor: Dr. Jiang)

Andy Choi, Spring 2016. Toward an Understanding of Leadership, Teamwork, and Self-less Service. (Faculty advisor: Dr. Jiang)

Consulting, service projects, and other

Cadets Sheridan Ford and Zachary Lauster, Predicting March Madness Using Data Analytics, Independent Study, Presented at 2022 VMI Undergraduate Research Symposium.  (Faculty Advisor: COL Cobb)

Cadets Westerman and Pessegnoli, funded by the CKF Foundation. The role of gut bacteria in determining the efficacy of ketogenic diets in reducing epileptic seizures. Consulting for a consortium which includes Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, George Washington University Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the Karolinska Institute of Sweden. (Faculty advisors: COL Basu and LTC David)

Cadets Myers and Hausler, funded by the CKF Foundation. The role of gut bacteria in therapy effectiveness. Consulting for George Washington Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and GW Cancer Center. (Faculty advisor: COL Basu)

Cadets Lee and Zingaro. Popular Annual Financial Report project for the City of Lexington in collaboration with Lexington City Manager and Finance Director. (Faculty advisor: Dr. Jiang)

Christopher Lloyd. 2020 Spring Independent Study Research Project. “Religious and Emotional Preferences in an Economic Power-to-Take Experiment.” (Faculty advisor: Dr. Jiang)

Jonathan M. Clines, and John M. Schmank. 2020 Spring Independent Study Research Project. Toward a Public Whistleblower Report? An Examination of the Markopolos Report on General Electric. (Faculty advisor: Maj Simms)